Family of medical student Sarah Houston call for Government to make drug used for weight loss illegal

The family of a medical student who suffered from bulimia and died after
taking an overdose of a banned weight loss drug have called for the drug to
be made illegal.

Medical student Sarah Houston was found dead by her housemates after she had taken a combination of antidepressants and the banned fat burning pill DNP.Photo: ROSS PARRY

By Claire Carter

7:51PM BST 22 Apr 2013

Sarah Houston was found dead by her housemates after she had taken a combination of antidepressants and the banned fat burning pill DNP, which she was taking in secret.

The 23-year-old was to be the fifth in her family to become a doctor and was studying medicine at the University of Leeds. She was taking antidepressants to treat her bulimia and had managed to get hold of DNP – which has been banned from human consumption because of the side effects it causes – through the internet.

Her brother James, 29, said: "In addition to being a sister, a daughter and a friend, to lose someone so young in this way only adds to our devastation.

"There have been at least 62 further deaths related to DNP. We as a family are distraught and are keen to make sure no other family suffer in this way.

"Whilst the FSA has banned it from human consumption, its risks are not widely

known and it does not seem to affect the ease at which it can be bought from the internet. DNP can have fatal consequences.

"I hope that more can be done to make people aware of the dangers of DNP.

"It seems incomprehensible to us that such a toxic substance can be available in tablet form to be sold in the UK for human consumption across the internet.

"It is perhaps only through her death that the strongest message can come out.”

DNP is used as an effective pesticide, but despite being banned for use as a weight loss drug is still sold in tablet form.

Sarah, of Buckinghamshire, had suffered from an eating disorder since the age of 15 and had been seeing a psychiatrist for three years to treat her condition. Her psychiatrist said she was getting better at the time of her death.

An inquest into her death returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

The inquest in Wakefield heard Sarah was found by her flatmate on September 24 last year. The inquest heard her flatmate Sarah Carpenter had been worried about Sarah after she noticed her eyes were yellow and she had had two cold showers to try and cool her down. She suggested calling an ambulance but Sarah refused and said the symptoms were not unusual and would pass. Sarah texted her friend later that day but was found by another flatmate that evening.

After her death 62 capsules of DNP were found in her bedroom and 38 were missing.

DNP first used to treat obesity in the 1930s but was banned because of its dangerous side effects. Sarah is believed to have been able to get the drug by buying it on the internet from a company that imported it from Spain, from a website that says it is not for human consumption but still sells it in tablet form.

Coroner David Hinchliff pledged to contact the relevant authorities after the inquest to call for DNP to be made illegal. He said: “The only motive for manufacturing a toxic substance as a slimming aid would be to profit from people who have the misfortune of having a condition such as Sarah's. Anyone who professionally manufactures capsules to be taken as a drug has the intention of people using it as a drug. Sarah's death is a consequence of that.”

Sarah’s family have called for more awareness of the dangers of DNP and for a government ban.

Her father, Geoff, said: “We've lost a beautiful daughter. The tragic circumstances are making it so hard to come to terms with for the family.

"It's going to be a slow process but hopefully approaching the Home Office to begin with will be the right step and hopefully it will be made illegal.

"For those who are selling it, if you have any ounce of decency you must stop. The world has lost a bright, bubbly person who would have gone onto making peoples lives better."